Product Description

Great Book by Osprey Publishing. 80 pagesThe T-55 tank first appeared in 1958, a result of numerous improvements made to the (1949) T-54 series, and with a lineage stretching back to the wartime T-34 and the T-44. A highly successful tank, the T-55 was built in large numbers in four countries: Russia, Czechoslovakia, Poland and China. In fact, at the time of writing, more T-54/55 tanks have been produced than any other tank in the world. The T-55A appeared in the early-1960s, and in July 1981, the USSR began an upgrade program for the series known as the T-55AM. Numerous countries have also created their own variants to suit specific needs, such as the Chinese T-62 and T-69II, and the Israeli Defence Forces' Tiran 5, based on the tanks captured in 1967 and 1973 from Syria and Egypt. The T-55 series has seen service around the world with many armed forces, including the Warsaw Pact countries, Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, China, Croatia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Poland, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Vietnam, and Yugoslavia, and has seen action in the key conflicts of the post-World War period around the globe, most recently in the two Gulf Wars. The many different versions and diverse patterns and colour schemes of the T-55 make it the perfect topic for a modelling book: such original versions can be very complex to build for the average modeller. The modelling community is well served with several full kits and a plethora of aftermarket items to cater for the growing interest in this topic. The recent release to wide acclaim of Tamiya's highly accurate and detailed 'superkit', and the subsequent avalanche of conversion sets, has also helped make this a highly popular topic for modellers. . This title showcases the talents of several leading modellers, and presents Serbian, Iraqi, Czech, Syrian, and Russian variants across 1/35 and 1/72 scales. It also features several challenging projects that involve extensive scratchbuilding. Packed with tips and ideas from top modelling authors, this book is both a useful modelling resource and pleasure in itself to own.